Civil Service Local (legacy)
With effect from 1 April 2022, Civil Service Local is no longer in operation. Many of its former functions are now being taken forward by different parts of the Cabinet Office. This site remains to inform what CS Local did and to direct to those parts that are being continued elsewhere. Civil Service Local activity that focused on learning and development for civil servants, including our Academy programmes, will now be delivered through the Government Skills and Curriculum Unit (GSCU). Reform and modernisation of the Civil Service to serve our citizens more effectively is the responsibility of the Modernisation and Reform Unit . Some aspects of regional/national reform will be taken forward through the Heads of Place programme which is based in the Government Property Unit. Civil Service Local (CS Local) was a cross-departmental team that was part of the Cabinet Office but based in locations around Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Our purpose was to bring together departments and agencies within each locality to deliver actions and opportunities that will bring the vision for a Brilliant Civil Service to life and encourage more of us to be part of it. The mission will continue through the Modernisation & Reform Champions, the Government Skills & Curriculum Unit and Places for Growth.
Who we are and what we do
See also our information and discussion pages (blog) which are updated regularly.
Through better participation the Civil Service will achieve the cultural shift needed to turn vision into reality and our role is to be a catalyst in that process. We provide a creative spark and energy that drives change forward, we connect people from different departments and help them to share expertise and develop skills and solutions that benefit the business and customers.
We are not a large scale delivery programme, we focus on forging the links and establishing the trust that allows new ideas to be developed and better ways of working trialled. Put simply, we believe we can achieve better outcomes when we work together.
Our strategic themes are grounded in these principles and the associated business objectives set out how we aim to achieve it. We have a particular emphasis upon making more effective use of the collective resources and expertise already within localities and engaging those whom are not based in Whitehall. We also recognise that we are uniquely placed to harness the voluntary power of the Civil Service to help some of the most vulnerable citizens in our local communities.
In doing so we help improve individual life chances, whilst building understanding of our customers’ needs and the skills and solutions needed to meet them.
Strategic Themes
We work to support the Civil Service vision of a Brilliant Civil Service
- Improved Outcomes
- Effective Leaders
- Skilled People
- A Great Place to Work
Under this umbrella our themes are:
Capability: Build the capability of the Civil Service by design and delivery of cross-departmental initiatives in each region that promote priority skills and better leadership
Connect: Develop local connectivity between departments. Encourage greater effectiveness through sharing resources, expertise and developing strong local networks.
Citizens: Improve social mobility and the life chances of vulnerable citizens in our local communities by harnessing the voluntary power of the Civil Service.
Inspire: Champion the vision for the Civil Service by engaging Civil Servants in all regions, raising awareness, promoting inclusion and encouraging participation.
Innovation: Encourage a culture of innovation through the design and piloting of creative solutions and new ways of working together.
Investment: Demonstrate the efficiency of connection and innovation by adding twice the value of the investment in Civil Service Local.
How we work
Our delivery model is based upon collaboration and collective strength. In practice we have a network of core staff that are based at strategic locations across Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. We recognise that our small team is not able to deliver significant change in isolation. We therefore act as the hubs for departments, providing a focal point through which we can agree priorities, develop and deliver locally based solutions. By building strong connections at the local level we encourage ownership of the reform vision on the ground and a more dynamic dialogue with Whitehall.
Our work programme focuses only upon those aspects that we are best placed to deliver. We support the corporate objectives highlighted in single departmental plans so we complement but do not duplicate departmental business. In practice these are the core cross-departmental elements that underpin the development and ethos of the organisation as a whole such as strong local leadership, engagement and improved capability.
By drawing together our collective expertise, we also encourage a culture of creativity to flourish from within the Civil Service. The trust that we have built with our partners allows us to channel this creativity into exploring new ways of working, piloting new initiatives on the ground and learning by doing. Some of our successful pilots have grown to meet a latent demand not catered for elsewhere and now form our flagship products. However, we recognise the need to continue to innovate and this is also reflected in our business objectives
Workforce planning, redeployment and support
Civil Service Local are actively involved in a network to help redeployment officers and teams handle staff who have been displaced/are unassigned to a role and possibly under risk of redundancy
Equality and diversity
Civil Service Local is committed to ensuring that wherever possible our events are accessible to all participants. If you have any specific requirements that will enable you to fully participate, please let us know and we will endeavour to make any reasonable adjustments.
We support recruitment practices so our workforce in locations around the country reflects the make-up of the local community.
Contact
Civil Service Local information and discussion pages (blog)
Email: The CS Local Corporate Team can be reached at
This page is administered by
john.haskey@cabinetoffice.gov.uk and angela.fisher@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
How to comment or complain about our services.
You can give suggestions, compliments or make complaints either to our (blog)](https://civilservicelocal.blog.gov.uk/ pages or directly to the Head of Civil Service Local -James.Dumbill@cabinetoffice.gov.uk